Gov’t mulls electric conversion as solution to JUTC fuel pilferage woes

PM Holness Looks to Electric Buses to Address Fuel Issues

Prime Minister Andrew Holness is banking on the conversion to electric of Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses to solve the fuel pilferage problem plaguing the state-owned entity.

“It is the intention of Government obviously to lead the way in converting many of our fleets to electric and certainly, if you were to do that to JUTC, that there would be immediate significant savings and I am not going to go too much into that … I see everybody smiling because you know that some of the things that we are losing, we won’t be losing it any more,” Holness said at the recent launch of the Government’s Electric Vehicle Test Driving Programme held at the Jaguar/Land Rover Showroom on Arthur Wint Drive, Kingston 5.

“So, it is our intention to as soon as we can, and as soon as the system is advanced and in place, to convert to electric vehicles.”

EV Test Driving Programme

Under an initiative funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, five government ministries are conducting test drives of EVs supplied by the Stewart Automotive Group over six weeks, in partnership with Flash Motors, regional suppliers of the all-electric Build Your Dreams (BYD) motor vehicles and the Jamaica Public Service Company’s Charge ‘N’ Go network.

Longstanding Fuel Pilferage Issues

At last Friday’s sitting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), JUTC Managing Director Paul Abrahams said that the company has been battling a “very big challenge with pilferage” of fuel from its inception.

“We have tried to quantify pilferage, but it has eluded us, and that is the truth because we run an operation that is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, so 2, 3 o’clock in the morning, activities can possible take place,” he said.

“It’s very difficult for us to put a figure on it, but we have a pretty good idea that there is a substantial figure out there.”